Up Popped a Fox blog

If train A leaves station X at 5:30 p.m. and is traveling east at 27 miles per hour and train B leaves station Y at 7:10 p.m. traveling west at 19 miles per hour and the engineer of train A is wearing brown shoes while the engineer of train B is wearing black shoes but a brown belt. At what time do engineer A and engineer B meet to talk about their footwear and accessories?
I always hated story problems. I could never wrap my mind around them and would often end up weeping in frustration. When I wasn't weeping, I was stomping around the house bemoaning the fact that I was going to fail algebra which would keep me from graduating from high school which would keep me from graduating from college which would guarantee that I would end up working in the food court at the mall for the rest of my life. So much hung in the balance with those freakin' trains!

A series of events transpired last night and, as I was trying to think about ways to tell you about them, I realized that the best way to convey what happened would be through a story problem. So, let's explore this modern day story problem:

Person A is tired. Person B is tired as well. Person A has 6 things to do in 5 days and person B has 9 things to do in 5 days. Person A has X amount of energy and person B has 1/4 of that amount. Person A then goes to do one of the things on her list and, while doing that, buys person B a grande latte. When person A returns, she gives person B the latte and person B sets the latte on the front radiator. Approximately 1 hours passes before person B remembers the latte. Person B then drinks the latte at 5:30 p.m. and eats 4 chocolate chip cookies. At approximately 11 p.m., person A and person B go to bed. Person A pulls up the covers, says goodnight and rolls over. Person B does not feel tired. Person A is facing east. Person B faces east as well and pokes person A 11 times. Person A finds this mildly amusing for approximately 3 minutes. Person A then tells person B to stop. Person B stops but then begins jumping up and down on the bed at a rate of 4 jumps per second while laughing maniacally.

Now, here are the questions relevant to this problem:

1. How many minutes does it take for person A mood to turn sour?

2. How long does person B jump on the bed before incurring the wrath of person A?

3. How many times does person A have to tell person B to stop before person B recognizes that she can't?

4. After person B leaves the bedroom, how long does she sit on the couch watching You Tube videos?

5. What times does person B finally fall asleep?

6. Are person A and person B still in a committed and loving relationship?